𝚂𝚠𝚎𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚝 • 𝚂𝚝𝚎𝚟𝚎 𝚁𝚘𝚐𝚎𝚛𝚜

05 • Blizzard

Steve and Bucky mostly sat around and watched as Mildred threw a bunch of vegetables into a stock pot. It's not that they didn't want to help cook, but a few moments in Bucky had already sliced his finger open with a knife so the two men were quickly pushed out of the kitchen.

Growing up, Steve and his mother always shared work around the house. Even when he was little he would do his part as best he could. Steve never leant into the idea that cooking was solely woman's job, but he wasn't ever particularly good at it, so he was grateful that his mom did the cooking growing up. He always made sure to tell her thank you for the effort, not ever wanting to seem like it was expected out of her.

Mildred soon turned the soup down to a simmer and left it on the stove, coming out of the kitchen and meeting the two men in the lounge. Steve was closing the curtains, hiding the terrifying blizzard outside.

"So..." Mildred kicked her feet underneath herself. "What do you boys do for fun on nights like these?"

The radio was completely out, so there wasn't much chance of listening to a program, and they were all half expecting the power to go out as well.

"You ever played poker?" Bucky questioned Mildred and she shook her head. "We could play that while we wait?"

Steve was terrible at poker, and didn't really feel like making a fool of himself but reluctantly agreed anyway. He grabbed a deck of cards and some chips from a drawer and the three sat down at the dining table.

"So, we playing normal poker or strip poker?" Bucky's face was showing off a cheeky grin and Steve went bright red.

"What's strip poker?" Millie questioned the two men.

"N-nothing!" Steve's hand flung to Bucky's mouth who was laughing uncontrollably. "It's nothing."

Mildred raised a curious eyebrow to the small blonde, but her face was quickly hidden By darkness as the power went out. She never particularly liked the dark, but didn't want to seem like a child and embarrass herself in front of Steve.

"Ah, shit." Bucky grumbled. "So much for poker."  The two boys scrambled to their feet and started moving around carefully

"Millie, you okay?" Steve's soft voice rung in Mildred's ears and it calmed her down immediately.

"Uh, yeah. I'm okay, Stevie." She blushed at the accidental slip of a nickname for Steve. She was grateful that it was dark in this moment, because it meant that neither of the two men could see her mortified facial expression.

But Steve also blushed at the nickname she gave him. Her voice was so light and airy, it made him feel like he was floating. He'd never had a nickname before and he couldn't help the fluttering in his stomach.

Steve finally managed to find the matches he'd lit the fire with and Bucky had found some old candles in a drawer. He swiped the match down the box and the very dim light just barely illuminated the features of the pretty brunette who was still sitting. She had a look of concern on her face.

"There's only a few candles, so we might have to move them around." Bucky handed one to Steve who lit the wick and sat it down next to Millie and smiled at her.

Millie was grateful that Steve didnt seem too bothered by the nickname. He even rested a hand on her shoulder and it made Millie's heart thump. He was already becoming so much more confident around her and it was exciting for the both of him. He was being so gentle with her and all Millie could think of was crashing her lips to his again, but unfortunately had to refrain due to the unexpected guest, Bucky.

"I should check on dinner." Millie stood abruptly, feeling almost shy around Steve, as if he could hear all her thoughts.

"Here, take the candle. We don't need another injury tonight." Millie laughed at the snarky comment and left for the kitchen. Her melodic laugh was like music to Steve's ear.